Highway 16 contract awarded to Hoban Construction.

Hoban Construction Ltd., a company based out of Vernon, B.C., has been given the contract for a new 2.3 km passing land on the westbound portion of Highway 16.

The new passing land would be built between Prince George and Vanderhoof, west of Barsness Road.

The proposed passing lane would cost around $2.6 million dollars to construct and according to a Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad, it would improve overall safety of the highway. “This passing lane on Highway 16 will provide much safer opportunities for commercial and personal traffic to pass other vehicles on this busy stretch of highway,” Rustad said in a press release.

Construction of the new passing lane is slated to be finished by September 2014.